Anticipation: movies to see before the world ends…

Better late than never, right? Here is my movies-to-see list for 2012.

Jan 20 – Underworld: Awakening – Having seen and enjoyed the previous three outings, it just makes sense to come back for more.
Jan 20 – Coriolanus – Gritty Shakespeare starring Voldemort and King Leonidas.
Jan 20 – Red Tails – I’m a sucker for true WWII stories. This one’s from LucasArts, so it has at least a reasonable budget behind it.

Feb 3 – Chronicle – What would happen to a bunch of regular guys who got superpowers in a mysterious way… I hope this doesn’t turn into Heroes: The Movie.
Feb 10 – Safe House – Looks like a reasonable action flick with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds.
Feb 10 – Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – I enjoyed the Brendan Fraser version, and the Rock has proved his comedic action chops, so this might be fun.
Feb 17 – This Means War – The trailers look hilarious and I’m one of the few people who actually enjoy McG action-comedies.

Mar 9 – John Carter – I love the Burroughs books, and I have faith in Andrew Stanton. I’m just a little worried about the inevitable Disneyfication of the whole thing.
Mar 23 – The Hunger Games – I mostly enjoyed the books, and I will probably try to catch this in theatres.
Mar 30 – Wrath of the Titans – More Greek mythology mashups. I’m in!
Mar 30 – Bully – No, this isn’t the film version of that video game, it’s a documentary on bullying in American schools, and it looks amazing.

May 4 – The Avengers – Thus begins the blockbuster season. This is also the capstone to Marvel’s efforts to weave together a comic-book crossover on the big screen. Meanwhile, DC is deciding on wardrobe changes.
May 18 – Battleship – My expectations are suitably low for a movie that started as a board game, but the trailers look okay.
May 25 – MIB III – Everything must be a trilogy, so here we are with Josh Brolin’s bang-on impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent K.

June 1 – Snow White and the Huntsman – Of the two Snow White tales coming out this year, this one looks far better. Also, Charlize Theron is a much more believable evil witch than Julia Roberts.
June 8 – Prometheus – Ridley Scott’s return to the genre that loves him may or may not be tied with his Alien universe.
June 22 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – From the mind (?) behind Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes this re-working of Honest Abe’s story.
June 22 – Brave – After not even making it onto the Oscar ballots for last year, Pixar has a lot riding on their first female hero.
June 29 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Since I’m one of the handful that actually enjoyed the 2009 movie, I will be there to see this one!

July 6 – The Amazing Spider-Man – Reboot may or may not stand up well against Batman and the Avengers. I’ll probably still see it.
July 20 – The Dark Knight Rises – The capstone to Nolan’s Batman trilogy. I watched the first 10 minutes in front of MI4 over Christmas and it looks amazing!

Aug 3 – The Bourne Legacy – New director, new star, new movie. Since the movies diverted hugely from the books early on, I can’t imagine that this is anything more than an action movie with the Bourne name attached. Still, could be good. I mean, look at that cast!
Aug 3 – Total Recall – This movie probably didn’t need a reboot – the original is a classic. I’m willing to give it a go, though, since it appears to hew closer to the source material.
Aug 17 – The Expendables 2 – Even more action movie stars, with full roles for Willis and Schwarzenegger. Totally there!
Aug 24 – Premium Rush – Bike messenger vs. dirty cop, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Sept 14 – Resident Evil: Retribution – The last outing was more action than horror, and better for it. Looks like more of the same.
Sept 21 – Hotel Transylvania – Sony’s family animation for the year. Looks reasonable.
Sept 21 – Dredd – This take on the comics will stay closer to the source than the Stallone take, which may or may not be a good thing.
Sept 28 – Looper – The premise for this film looks a little like 12 Monkeys, which could be awesome.

Oct 5 – Taken 2 – Liam Neeson takes on the father of the kidnapper he killed in the original. Awesome!
Oct 26 – Alex Cross – Tyler Perry (!?) replaces Morgan Freeman as Patterson’s titular character. Could be interesting.

Nov 2 – Red Dawn – Remake of the 1984 with North Koreans replacing Russians invading a small town.
Nov 9 – Skyfall – Bond is back, finally!
Nov 21 – Gravity – Interesting premise, good cast and great director.
Nov 21 – Rise of the Guardians – This could be really good or really terrible, depending on how it’s handled.

Dec 14 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Jackson takes us back to Middle Earth in part 1 of The Hobbit.
Dec 14 – Les Misérables – A big screen musical take on Hugo’s classic, the cast for this one looks amazing!
Dec 21 – World War Z – Brad Pitt stars in this action movie about a UN employee trying to stop a zombie epidemic.
Dec 21 – Life of Pi – Ang Lee directs this adaptation of the Yann Martel novel.
Dec 21 – Hunter Killer – This one isn’t in production yet, which makes me think it might not come out until next year.

After that, the world will come to an end, so no other release dates matter… until 2013, that is!

Ian Hecht is a teacher of French, Science, History and Communication Production Technology at the largest high school in Saskatchewan, Canada. He runs Marturia.net on the side and designs websites and multimedia presentations for non-profit organisations. You can contact Ian by clicking the e-mail link at the top of the page.

So I watched a few movies over the weekend. Here’s the breakdown: Shoot ‘Em Up: Watched this Saturday, and it really is the most preposterous ...

2 Comments

T. GillespieMarch 13, 2012 at 8:04 pm -

From your list:
Feb 3 – Chronicle – It got great reviews on Rotten tomatoes.
Feb 10 – Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – I loved the first one, so I will like this one too
Feb 17 – This Means War – I was hyped to see this one too…

Mar 23 – The Hunger Games – Only read the first one, and it was good, so this will, or should be good.
Mar 30 – Wrath of the Titans – Amen, Love the first one
Mar 30 – Bully – I hope they change the rating for this one.

Apr 13 – Cabin in the Woods – WTF is up with this one?

May 4 – The Avengers – Meh… I guess I will watch it. Never was a fan of any Marvel comics, but I have enjoyed the movie version.
May 18 – Battleship – Liam Neeson and pseudo-transformers? I am in too…
May 25 – MIB III – I want to see Josh Brolin too

June 1 – Snow White and the Huntsman – Looks great!
June 8 – Prometheus – This will rock.
June 22 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – This looked great too.
June 29 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation – You and I are in that handful of fans

July 6 – The Amazing Spider-Man – Again, never a Marvel fan, but I do want to see it.
July 20 – The Dark Knight Rises – What is this one about… lol